Ulta looking to open store in Crystal Lake

CRYSTAL LAKE – A national beauty product retailer wants to do business in Crystal Lake.

Ulta Beauty will present plans for a 10,000-square-foot store to the Crystal Lake Planning and Zoning Commission on Wednesday night. The store would be at the former Sports Authority site at Crystal Point Shopping Center, which is being divided into smaller storefronts in an effort to fill the space.

Ulta sells cosmetics, fragrances, skin care products, hair care products and salon services from about 500 brands. As of October, Ulta operates 1,058 retail stores across 48 states and the District of Columbia, according to the company’s website.

Although there are Ulta locations in McHenry and Algonquin, the Bolingbrook-based company has had eyes on Crystal Lake for some time.

“Ulta has been interested in Crystal Lake for a while,” City Planner Katie Cowlin said. “It’s a great match. The shopping center has great visibility and great tenants.”

The planning and zoning board will make a recommendation to the City Council on the company’s request, which is to make modifications to the building to accommodate the Ulta design.

Ulta would occupy the westernmost section of the former Sports Authority with a new glass entryway installed in front and a separating wall added inside the currently empty space.

Two more tenants could end up in the remaining portion of the building, according to city documents.

“I’m not surprised they chose to locate here, especially with the help city staff provides for them,” Mayor Aaron Shepley said.

The Crystal Point Shopping Center, at the northeast corner of Route 14 and South Main Street, was built and annexed to Crystal Lake in the 1970s. It started as an enclosed mall with various stores and parking on both sides of the buildings, according to city documents.

Today, it is occupied by big-box tenants such as Best Buy; Bed, Bath & Beyond; and The Fresh Market, and it will welcome Steinhafels furniture superstore this year in the former Kmart space.

Sports Authority closed in 2016 after the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all stores in the Chicago region.

That was only a year after the company announced that its two Sports Authority locations a mile apart in Crystal Lake would consolidate into the Crystal Point building. Both Sports Authority stores co-existed for years and survived the recession.